1. Uniting Free Government Data using PowerPivot
Greg Beaumont, PM / BI Architect
GNet Group

2. Welcome Greg R. Beaumont, MBA, PMP GNet Group
University of Minnesota / Carlson School of Management – MBA
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota – Pre-Med / Biology
GNet Group

3. This is my first SQL Saturday presentation… Thank you for attending!
Welcome
This is my first SQL Saturday presentation… Thank you for attending!
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4. “Information is a source of learning
“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” William Pollard ( )

5. Why Government Data and PowerPivot?
During projects and when looking for good demo data over the last several years, I have found interesting and useful data
Data ranges in scope from weather, to economic, to geospatial, to healthcare, and much more
Data is found in flat files, via FTP, via GUI interfaces, via Excel files, etc.
PowerPivot is a quick and effective tool to pull in data from different sources and tie it all together
It seemed like a fun topic!

6. Government Data State Agency Databases: Federal Data – Data.gov
Federal Data – Data.gov
Now has an open API for developers
- United States
International Data
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Singapore

7. Other Agencies and Organizations
TOO MANY TO LIST!!!!!

8. Google Public Data Explorer

9. Microsoft – Open Government Data Initiative

10. Bing Health Maps

11. Google Flu Trends

12. Common Keys
Date
State
Zip Code
Geospatial FIPS
ICD9 / ICD10

13. Notes About the Demo
The intent of this demo is to demonstrate that disparate sources of free data can be integrated in fun and interesting ways
My demos today are not intended to establish causation, correlation, or to draw any conclusions
When comparing disparate data sources, there is much more information needed to establish statistical conclusions

14. Example #1: Corn Commodity Data and the Weather
Data Source #1: Historical Weather Data from the US Department of Energy
Data Source #2: Feed Grains Database from the USDA
Data Source #3: Date table generated with a custom SQL script

15. Example #2: CDC Mortality Healthcare and Economic Data
Data Source #1: CDC Wonder Database
Data Source #2: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data Source #3: Data.gov.sg – Singapore Labor Statistics
Data Source #4: Date table generated with a custom SQL script

16. Demo
Enjoy the Demo!

17. Problem with Free Data Today
Bad – Multiple file and storage formats
Worse – Lack of standardized, conformed dimensions and defined, expected levels of granularity
Because of this there is demand for our work in BI!
Worst – Introduction of GUIs that limit access to data

18. Final Thoughts
The vast data that is currently out there is just the very beginning of what is to come
Terabytes, Exabytes, Zettabytes
Hive and Hadoop
Tabular Model

19. Final Thoughts
I envision a day, in our time, where global big data will seamlessly integrate to allow for the future descendants of BI tools to:
Integrate Statistical tools to red-flag anomalies and changes for integrated multi-dimensional big data
Predict droughts, food shortages, political upheaval
Find new causes and cures for disease
Detect health and safety hazards
Decode the building blocks of life (many-to-many)
Understand the Universe

20. Follow-Up
I will post an entry on for follow-up
Post your own suggestions for sources of great data
Have a follow-up conversation
@GRBeaumont